To Lie and To Behold
by SpegMerbles
Summary: My very first fanfiction!(cheers) It's a cutesy little thing I came up with using my own original character and my closest friend's original character...that's all there is to it, really I hope you like it, kind readers (/ 3 )/\( 3 \)
Charna Odesza timorously took her seat on the carpeted floor, her legs tucked firmly into her chest. Impotently, her eyes scampered up to Ryan's like a stray puppy, unable to react to a new setting such as someone's house, let alone their room. Her soulmate's estate made her own feel alienated; all homes must look like this. His brother had left the duo alone while he went on a quick run to the corner store to pick up snacks for this occasion, which had slipped his mind earlier. Charna kind of liked this. Unlike her, a butterfly still locked in a cage, Ryan was more...disorganized and sloppy: one sock on and one sock off, a long-sleeved orange shirt that didn't suit the warm evening with an even darker t-shirt over it, ending off with black gym shorts. He looked so unorthodox, yet so endearing.

"So, Charna, while we wait.." the boy began. "Let's chat a little bit; is your room as big as mine?" Charna's heart skipped a beat. She didn't predict a full on conversation, especially beginning on his end. Her left eyebrow convulsed. Ryan had never been to her house, and she never intended on having him visit. Though he had already accepted her for who she was and what she could do, a lingering dread hindered her from truly emerging from her enclosure. She was afraid of his reaction to her steel prison of an accommodation, a place that would give any child nightmares.

"No, not at all." Charna replied feebly. "M-My room is much bigger." Ryan beamed, unknowing of her lie. "Awesome! That should be pretty normal for you, since you like to dance." his cerulean eyes glimmered in thought. "Have you ever decided to register for a dance class of some sort?"

"No." said Charna, wanting to say more, but dwindled off.

"Why not?" Ryan was on the floor with her now. "You love to dance, don't you? Don't you want to expand your skills?" Charna lied again.

"...It's because, w-well." She knew, that if she continued to stutter he would figure out her motive. Rummaging for the most arbitrary excuse in her head, she spat, "I've never listened to music before!" There was a pause. Ryan stared at her blankly, leaving his friend skeptical of whether he took her word for it or not. More painstaking moments passed.

 _"Really?"_ he said, caustic. "You dance all the time, even for me, and you've never listened to music?! _Really?!"_ He didn't wait for a response, instead crawling wildly - Charna found it somewhat provocative with his yellow tail flailing all over the place - to his backpack, whereafter unzipping a couple pockets, retrieved a black and lime green pair of headphones, presenting it to her in a fury. "Well, tonight, you're going to listen to some!" Before the pup could react, her companion was already beside her, forcefully trying to put them over her ears. She struggled.

"Ryan! Stop that!" Charna demanded, batting his arms with her metallic ringed knuckles. "I could ruin them somehow, you know that! Quit it!" Her lack of force was her downfall, eventually succumbing to her friend's resolve, as well as her own curiosity. In truth, she had never felt the sensation of having something over her ears other than her own hands. After a nanosecond or so, Charna already adored the power of this kind of technology; how it easily muted the world. If only she could wear these forever, if only she could tune out all the scornful, burning, reprehensible utterances from the ones who harbored a toxic hatred for her. The half-breed relaxed. The silence was beautiful.

"Give me a quick second.." Ryan mumbled under his breath, knowing that Charna couldn't hear him as he reached for his silver phone, lying somewhere amongst the bedsheets. Finding his object of interest, he hastily attached his headphones to it, and began his search for a proper song. It didn't take long. "Alright, listen to this." Charna raised an eyebrow, unable to read his lips. Before she could remove her sound removers, a conciliating melody detonated in her ears. Her eyes widened, the song instantaneously beckoning her to stand up and dance. Ryan smiled brightly at her reaction, finding it pretty cute himself.

 _"WOW."_ Charna exclaimed, under the impression that she was speaking in an indoor voice. _"IT'S REALLY NICE."_ Ryan's grin increased in size, for he could hear his music of choice, too, since he had his phone turned up a little too loud. They laughed, hard. It felt good to be this rapturous. Life had become all too despotic; their guardians and playfellows passed their anxieties onto them like a wildfire of a fever as their city became an uncaring dystopia whose only aim was to lock its residents inside, and keep outsiders out. How the mighty Senex was crashing under the weight of it's own inauguration, wrought with unsolvable situations. This transient moment they divided in this deteriorating cityscape felt like heaven. They wanted it to last forever.

His thoughts thinned to a single notion; Ryan propelled himself as close as he could to Charna, enough for his lips to faintly press against her own. His coyness kicked in, feeling her warmth, causing him to push himself away, so brisk that the recoil sent the lass' headphones off her ears. They both gazed at each other in shock.

The music had ceased.

Speechless, the pup's touched lips fell apart, but nothing tumbled out. Her pale skin transitioned to a beet red. Finally, she shrieked that cry of chagrin, followed by her red-orange sparks bursting from the top of her head and the end of her spine. "Ry- _aaaannnn!"_ She yelled it so boisterously that her opposite flinched. "W-Wha-What was that s-s-s-s-s-s-sup-p-p-p-p-p-posed t-t-to-" Her words slurred and rolled out of her mouth in an avalanche of unintelligible vocables. "I-I-I-I-I c-c-c-can't b-b-believe you just w-went a-and j-just… _o-o-ohhh.."_ It dissolved into tiny whimpers that only made Ryan only partly worried of his action. He embraced her, hoping it would shut her up a little.

"Sorry 'bout that." he whispered. "Don't tell Tony...or Rana for that matter; sshhhh." He reclined and put his finger to his mouth. "I don't know how any of them would react...so keep quiet!" Charna didn't say anything back - her face still stayed crimson, like her head was going to burst - and she continued to gaze at the floor. Then they realized it.

"H-Hold on a second!" she gazed up at him. "M-My flames are out!"

"And they didn't burn me, or my headphones!" Ryan added with glee. "That means you can control them now, even if it's not much! You don't burn everything anymore!" Soon after that, they were jumping with cheer. First they were nervous, then they were happy, nervous, once more, and now happy again. Laughter filled the room, just as they did in days past.


End file.
